Soup is generally the last item I feel like eating, but I do like making it. Often inspired by flavoursome veggies, I stick to small amounts – no more than 1.5L – and feed them to Himself who loves soup.

Admit it, cream of tomato, carrot alone, spicy lentil soup; none of these inspire after the first bowlful. I suspected celeriac would be the same, so that’s why the smoked bacon. They do go with each other. I think. Chorizo was rejected, although that goes well in a slightly spiced butternut squash and sweet potato soup.

Chop up half a celeriac in the food processor. Make gravel. Don’t even think about dicing it by hand. This mother is hard.

Dice 4 small onions and slice 2 smoked garlic cloves into hot oil in a stockpot and saute until translucent. Or until the sharpness of the smell begins to burn a nice hole through your sinuses.

Add the celeriac, and stir a few times, ensuring it doesn’t stick to the pan.

2 chicken stock cubes and about 1 litre of water into the pan, lid on, cook on a low heat for ages. When the celeriac gravel feels soft and mushy, blend with a stick blender until it’s as smooth as potato puree. Taste for salt.

Cut up three-four rashers of smoky bacon into very small pieces, fry with a slug of oil on a high heat until crispy and tip the lot into the soup (bacon fat and pieces).

Reheat. Eat*.

*with a ciabatta bread bun which had been briefly wetted and then crisped in the oven. The illusion of freshness.

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Inayat isn’t a witch. She’s an ordinary twenty-something, screwing up her life one failed date at a time. But when she dumps the wrong magician, she finds herself in a bubbling cauldron of trouble and terror.

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